The elephants in the rafters are a nice touch.

Billy, your photos are really wonderful. Thank you.

The Great Wall
 

The Great Wall of China was built over 2,000 years ago, by Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China during the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty (221 B.C - 206 B.C.). In Chinese the wall is called "Wan-Li Qang-Qeng" which means 10,000-Li Long Wall (10,000 Li = about 5,000 km).

After subjugating and uniting China from seven Warring States, the emperor connected and extended four old fortification walls along the north of China that originated about 700 B.C. (over 2500 years ago). Armies were stationed along the wall as a first line of defense against the invading nomadic Hsiung Nu tribes north of China (the Huns). Signal fires from the Wall provided early warning of an attack.

The Great Wall is one of the largest building construction projects ever completed. It stretches across the mountains of northern China, winding north and northwest of Beijing. It is constructed of masonry, rocks and packed-earth. It was over 5,000 km (=10,000 Li) long. Its thickness ranged from about 4.5 to 9 meters (15 to 30 feet) and was up to 7.5 meters (25 feet) tall.

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Great Wall was enlarged to 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) and renovated over a 200 year period, with watch-towers and cannons added.

The Great Wall can be seen from Earth orbit, but, contrary to legend, is not visible from the moon, according to astronauts Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Jim Irwin.

The Great Wall like a long dragon in the north China. What I saw is the First Compass in Shanhaiguan, Qinhuangdao, HeBei.

The South Gate of the ShanHaiGuan.

First Pass Under Heaven
The five huge Chinese characters, "Tian Xia Di Yi Guan," mean, "First Pass under Heaven" with each character on the plaque measuring about 5 feet from top to bottom.

The two-story tower of the Pass

The tower was rebuilt in 1990s, so it looks very new and beautiful.

The View of the mordern City from the wall.

Cool, Billy. Thanks. :biggrin:

Those are great Billy!
My husband has been invited back to China for the second time, and will be going over at the end of October.
He climbed up the Great Wall when he was there before, and when he got to the top he got a "hero card" for making it. It cracked me up.

Once again, lovely pictures Billy! We have missed you here!

Muying Tower

The side wall of the tower

JingBian Tower

Stairs